Taking to social media this morning, Andy Irvine has revealed that his Sobell guitar-bouzouki and mandola have gone missing during the course of his travels from Dublin Airport to Denmark. He flew overseas 10 days ago, to play a festival, but the instruments "failed to arrive" and "have not been traced yet."

In a post originally shared on his Facebook page – which has since been reshared by friends and fans across various social media platforms – the Irish musician requests if "anybody knows someone there, working as a baggage handler, who has access to misplaced baggage," to keep an eye out for his missing instruments.

The two instruments, he says, are "probably valued in excess of €16,000."

"The chaos at airports is such that they may be in Dublin, Frankfurt or Copenhagen," he continues. "I have a suspicion that they never left Dublin..."

Mark O'Brien, co-director of the Abbey Theatre, is among those spreading the word about Irvine's missing instruments on Twitter:

Hi @SAS he lodged the loss was registered with you on June 29th he has recieved no information since? He is not on Twitter can you please help. Obviously Andy Irvine as one of Irelands foremost musicians is very concerned. Thanks https://t.co/RvbI8QAA4y

— Mark O’Brien (@obrienmark) July 11, 2022

I see #DublinAirport lost luggage fiasco continues. They’ve only gone & lost ANDY IRVINE’s precious musical instruments. Yes, THE Andy Irvine. Forget about calling in the army. A squadron of musicians would sort them out, sharpish. https://t.co/0jaEOIXwLm

— Dr Eemer Eivers (@EemerEivers) July 11, 2022

These are the missing instruments and cases. Please help. pic.twitter.com/Y67dpi6c6y

— Andy Irvine Fanblog (unofficial) (@AndyIrvineNews) July 11, 2022

As Mark O'Brien notes above, Irvine is widely considered "one of Ireland's foremost musicians." Over the course of his remarkable career – which spans over 50 years years – he has gained international recognition for his work with the likes of Sweeney's Men, Planxty, his duo with Paul Brady and more.

Last year, he and Dónal Lunny joined Hot Press for a special intimate show as part of the Up Close And Personal series – discussing the 1973 album Planxty, and performing classic tracks from the project. Watch the show below: